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AGD Relic: Centennial Minimag #900

AO,

I consider myself lucky as of last weekend at the field, and not because of some great move or a sweet shot. It is because I got to come home with the second mag I ever had to pleasure of seeing in person. It is not only just an old mag, but it is a bit of a collectors edition.

I am now the proud owner of Centennial Minimag #900. It was at one time owned by Dale Hilton, former AGD Tech and owner of the now defunct BOA barrels. As far as I know the even 100 numbered Minimags were pulled aside by Tom, specially engraved, and given to certain AGD Techs. Maybe some of the powers in the know about the story can share a little bit more history on the subject. He sold it to a close friend of mine who I have been playing paintball with for many years and I finally managed to get it from him along with some BOA barrels for it and the original 6" Minimag barrel that matches the original ice blue anno.

The Mag is well worn and has been played hard through the years as any Mag should, but it has held up well considering. I don't know what I am going to do with it. I don't know if or how I want to upgrade it, but regardless I will keep all the original pieces. I have even considering doing what is needed to run it on CO2 like a Palmer Stab, Anti-Siphon, etc. It would be for a real throw back since my other 3 Mags are either Retro or X-Valved.

Either way I don't know what I will do but I'll keep some photos along the way just to show AO what happens with this Mag.

that cap locks the velocity adjuster while playing.... its basically so you cant take an allen wrench on the field... when paintball was in the woods it was much easier to get away with velocity funny business like chaging it on the field... cause you could just crawl into a bush and change it... what a time.

sweet mag im kinda curious whats up with the velocity adjuster in the back...

Reminds me of mine..

That velocity adjuster is a tourney cap to prevent turning up the velocity while on the field. There is 3 pieces to it, one is the nut that you turn to adjust, it sits inside the main nut then those 2 pieces screw into the valve, and the smaller looking nut screws into the lager looking nut and lock together after you have set your velocity. I love mine, I actually have another one just sitting here but its missing the small cap Otherwise I'd prolly be using that one too...

Thanks CaliMagFan & Creative Mayhem for steping up with the answer to the question. As they said Yes it is just a fancy Tourny Cap that doesn't use set screwes digging into the back of the valve.

And Thanks again for the kind remarks. I know there are plenty of older Mags out there floating around and plenty of lower numbers. I am curious as to the location of the other Centennial's out there... I know I seen talk of #800 being owned by someone here, I forget the name at this moment so forgive me.. and I think it was #700 sell on E-bay last year or something...

Yes as a matter of fact it is a collectable. We pulled every centenial valve and made a few into special guns. We intended to do a special run with all the centenials but didn't get around to it. Eventually we changed the specs on the valve and they all became obsolete so we had to destroy them.

Even Tom steps up with a little info on this gun... That makes me feel good.

But that raises a few questions to me... How many Centennials were actually made, how many were "destroyed" ... And the fate of the questionable number of ones left...

Also, more importantly to me, what specs where changed and how will that effect me and this gun, any maintenance and replacement parts.

Just on a side note to the quality of AGD guns. This gun has been fully in use since it was made in what I am guessing 91? .. and after taking the gun (not the valve apart yet I am a bit nervous) ... Proves very true that all you need to do is drop a little oil in it. Because in the last 5 years since Dale sold this gun to my friend that is the only thing that has been done to it, very much to my surprise. Because according to him that is all that Dale told him to do and if he needed anything else done to it to bring it back to him. And the gun was fully functional and played with on the field the day that I took ownership of it. Not bad for valves that "all became obsolete so we had to destroy them" to quote Tom.

I took this gun apart this morning and found five years of heavy rec ball worth of mud, old paint shells, goo, and debris in every aspect and nook and cranny of the body, rail, frame, & sear. That I am having fun trying to clean it all out. It has even caused a little pitting on the old style sear sides, on the top of the rail, and underside of the body. The powder coating on the body is not bad considering what it has gone through, but the black powerder coating on the old style Steel frame is garbage and will have to be redone. The bolt that hold the saftey spring in place is gone, and was held in place just by the pressure of the frame against the rail. And it is odd seing a spring inside the frame to help the sear return. I don't know this spring prevent me from using a standard I-Frame on this gun? This is fun for me because I don't have much experice with Valves this old.

There is actually nothing obsolete about it. At that time we switched suppliers and the new guys were giving us much better finishes etc. The new parts looked so nice we didn't want to sell the old looking stuff any more and hence we opted to dump the centenials which were the only ones really left.